Price, Hal

It Happened One Night

Director Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) took home every Oscar in the book (well, okay, all the major ones) for this seminal 1934 comedy starring Clark Gable as a hard-bitten reporter who stays close to a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert) rather than lose a good story. Funny and sexy, the film is full of memorable scenes often referred to in other films, such as the "walls of Jericho" (a mere bedcover hung on a line down the middle of a room so opposite-sex roommates can get undressed), and Colbert's famous flash of thigh to stop a speeding car in its tracks. Capra's brisk, urbane brand of wit was a perfect complement to his populist faith in the common man (in this case, Gable's character), and that inspired combination makes this film both a spirited entertainment and an uplifting experience. --Tom Keogh

The More the Merrier

Portly Charles Coburn makes a cute if unlikely cupid in George Stevens's smart 1943 romantic comedy. Jean Arthur is girl next door and big-city sophisticate rolled up in one bubbly package as Connie Milligan, a single woman in Washington D.C. who sublets a room in her small apartment during the wartime housing crisis. Her new roommate, the deadpan eccentric Mr. Dingle (Coburn, who won an Oscar for his rascally performance), dislikes her stiff, bureaucratic beau and takes it upon himself to find her an appropriate boyfriend, namely the soft-spoken industrial engineer Joe Carter (Joel McCrea), whom Dingle puts up in his half of the apartment. Stevens takes a measured approach to comedy: The first morning with all three in the cramped kitchen turns a painstakingly organized schedule into a chaotic free-for-all that just gets funnier as the anarchy builds. Even more effective is the contrast between the charmingly effusive Arthur and McCrea's sauntering style, which creates not so much sparks as a slow simmer as they continue to spend time together. One of the finest craftsmen of Hollywood's Golden Age, Stevens shapes this lightweight screenplay into one of the most delectable romantic comedies of all time. --Sean Axmaker

Platinum Blonde

This Frank Capra comedy from 1931 helped define the screwball-comedy genre that became so popular with films like It Happened One Night and The Awful Truth. In this witty romp, Jean Harlow plays an upper-crust socialite who bullies her reporter husband (Robert Williams) into conforming to her highfalutin ways. The husband chafes at the confinement of high society, though, and yearns for a creative outlet. He decides to write a play and collaborates with a fellow reporter (Loretta Young); the results are unexpectedly hilarious, especially when Young shows up at the mansion with a gaggle of boozehound reporters in tow. With snappy, ribald dialogue (allowable in those pre-Hays Code days), Capra keeps the gags flying fast and furious, taking special delight in having Williams's journalist pals rib him endlessly over his kept-man status. Platinum Blonde was a great success at the time of its release during the class-conscious Depression; for better or worse, its star Harlow was identified with the tag "platinum blonde" until her untimely death. --Jerry Renshaw

In the film that began her legendary career Jean Harlow stars in this romantic comedy directed by Academy Award® winner Frank Capra (Best Director: It Happened One Night 1935; Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 1937; You Can't Take It With You 1939). Written to showcase her talent looks and charm PLATINUM BLONDE is a glorious spoof of the newspaper business in New York City during the Depression; Ann Schuyler (Harlow) a wealthy socialite meets reporter "Stew" Smith (Robert Williams) and the two fall madly in love. The comedy begins as she tries to transform him from a ruffian newsman into a convincing gentleman. "Stew" who is quick with wisecracks is slow to realize the dangers of being a kept man. At first he likes the idle life of the rich but there's trouble in paradise. Soon this "Cinderella Man" turns the social register upside down with his mocking repartee. To his rescue is Gallagher (Loretta Young) a sympathetic friend and co-worker at the newspaper. She comforts and consoles Stew and in classic Capra style helps him right into Harlow's own arms.System Requirements:Running Time 88 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 043396037595 Manufacturer No: 03759

Atlantic Flight

Two pilots push their Lockheed Electra to the limit on a transatlantic mercy flight through crashing lightning and blinding rain. Back in America, their good friend lies dying, the victim of a crash during a sabotaged air race. In their cargo hold is a pr

Ride Him, Cowboy

A man is falsely accused of a rash of barn-burnings. When he proves his innocence he sets about to bring the real criminals to justice.Running Time: 55 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. UPC: 012569798571 Manufacturer No: 79857

John Wayne's road to stardom needed some giddyup in the early 1930s; after a leading-man turn in The Big Trail, he quickly fell into B-movie obscurity. While waiting to vault to first-tier status in 1939's Stagecoach, he honed his talent with a set of six B-Westerns at Warner Brothers, shot in 1932-33. The series allowed Warners to recycle footage (and plots) from a string of silent Westerns made with Ken Maynard, with the young Mr. Wayne stepping into Maynard's saddle. Ride Him, Cowboy is the best of these snappy little films (under an hour each), a very entertaining number in which Wayne is introduced to a feisty horse named, of all things, Duke. Duke would feature in the later films, as would Wayne's harmonica playing. The movie has some wild stunt riding and some very amusing dialogue (someone urges a pokey storyteller, "Skip that part and get down to bedrock"). And for a cheap B-movie, there's some exceptionally inventive camerawork by Ted McCord, who would go on to shoot The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and East of Eden.

Wayne, 25 years old, plays the same naively heroic hero in each of the six films. He's lean and handsome and not yet grown into his talent. But you can see how much the camera likes him--as his future director Howard Hawks might have put it--and how much that famous stride is already coming into step. --Robert Horton

Red Ryder - Double Feature Vol 10

Red Ryder must bring peace when two feuding towns battle over the position of the county seat in "Marshal of Reno" (1944); "Sheriff of Redwood Valley" (1946) has our hero and his sidekick rounding up criminals responsible for the crime of which an innocent man did time.

New Frontier

The Singing Hill

Ranch foreman Gene Autry must take unusual measures to prevent a spoiled society girl from selling her inherited ranch to a ruthless banker and thus causing upset for the neighboring ranchers. Whether it's masquerading as musicians with his sidekick Frog Millhouse and orphan Patsy or getting the heiress declared incompetent with the help of a friendly old judge Gene does whatever it takes to protect the range. In between the action and comedy Genes sings a few songs including "Blueberry Hill" and "The Last Round-Up."Centennial Bonus! Phantom Empire Chapter Three: "The Lightning Chamber"Plus! Republic Pictures- Gene Autry British Isles Personal Appearance Theatrical Trailer 1939System Requirements:Running Time: 75 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 014381347920 Manufacturer No: ID3479UQDVD

The Devil Bat

Gene Autry Collection: Ridin on a Rainbow

Assisting in the search for murderous bank robbers rancher Gene Autry goes undercover as a showboat entertainer to capture the crooks and recover the money. Key to their investigation is the young singer Patsy played by Mary Lee. Action-packed from ship to shore the film's show-stopping musical numbers include Gene's performance of "Be Honest with Me" nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song of 1941.System Requirements:Running Time 75 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 014381239829 Manufacturer No: ID2398UQDVD